Free School Meals, Grants and Subsidies

Free School Meals & Cashless Catering

Neston High School operates a biometric/contactless cashless catering system. This gives the flexibility to pay in advance for school meals online, but also facilitates anonymity to students entitled to free school meals. Each day, free school meal allowances are uploaded onto the student’s account automatically each day. This is added to any 'top up' balance added by parents. Please note; free school meal allowanced do no 'roll over' each day. If the allowance is not used in a given day it is automatically removed at the end of the day.

Please visit our 'Lunchtimes' section for more information about our Cashless Catering System.

Applying for Free School Meals

You can now apply for free school meals online by completing a short form using the links below.  Not only do students who are entitled to a free school meal have £2.95 added to their cashless catering account each day to be used to purchase food either at break or lunch time service but they are also eligible for a subsidy on some educational visits. 

Check if your child can get free school meals in England, and find out how to apply on your local authority’s website by following this link.

Am I Eligible for Free School Meals?

If as parents/guardians/carers you receive one of the following, you may be able to claim for Free School Meals.

• Income Support
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit
• Universal Credit - if you apply on or after 1 April 2018 your household income must be less than £7,400 a year (after tax and not including any benefits you get)

Apply online Free school meals | Cheshire West and Chester Council

Free School Meals Helpline: 0300 123 7039